Thursday, January 24, 2013

Burgundy Beef Stew adapted from Saveur's "New Comfort Food"

Confession Time: Those vegetables that look like potatoes? They are potatoes served alongside the dish the night before.Since I didn't get a photograph then, this picture was taken the next day with the leftovers potatoes added to the stew.

When we entertain, I love to do things
that will keep me out of the kitchen once the guests have arrived. And in winter, a great braise is a perfect
way to do it. And if you’re choosing a
great beef dish, Boeuf Bourguignon is an obvious choice. However, who can forget Julie and Julia, the
movie where the young blogger cooks her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the
Art of French Cooking? In case you have
forgotten, Julie was doing fine until the day she arrived at Julia’s recipe for
Beef Bourguignon. There she failed
miserably. I am not entirely sure of the details but Julie fell asleep and the
stew went awry. As ridiculous as it
sounds, that scared me off Julia’s recipe. Instead, I pulled out Saveur’s “The
New Comfort Food. Home Cooking from around the World” (Chronicle Books 2011). I
have used this cookbook with great success. In fact, I find Saveur and James
Oseland, editor of both this book and the magazine, are completely trustworthy
where recipes are concerned. This recipe
was listed as “Burgundy-Style Beef Stew”.
There’s not necessarily a lot different about it from the recipe for
Boeuf Bourguignon. At least there wasn’t
until I started fiddling with it.

Traditional Beef Bourguignon stews
along with carrots and celery and onions for several hours. Then the meat is removed from the pot and the
entire contents—wine, beef broth, and the vegetables—are meant to be put
through a fine mesh strainer, the solids removed altogether. The gravy is then thickened via another 10 to
12 minutes on the stove. The onions and
mushrooms, cooked on their own, are added to the dish and it is ready to
serve. However, when I got to the
instruction about straining the vegetables, I looked into the pot. I loved seeing the color of the
carrots and the dash of green of the celery.
I couldn’t think of a reason to make the dish monochromatically brown. I left the vegetables in. They took away absolutely nothing. I think they made the dish far more
attractive and the mushrooms and pearl onions didn’t seem to mind at all.

Before we get to the actual recipe,
here are some things you should know.
First, never buy pre-cut pieces of anything labelled ‘stewing
beef’. For one thing, these pieces tend to be much smaller than they should
be.A really great stew should be made
of two inch cubes of beef.The second
problem with ‘stewing beef’ is that you have no clue what part of the animal
the pieces represent.Could be the
toughest of all cuts for all we know.For
truly great beef stew you really need to use a cut that is, frankly, a little
fatty.A beef Chuck Roast, which is
never terribly expensive, is ideal for this recipe.Cut it into cubes by yourself.Another cut which is exceptional for stewing
is the boneless short ribs you can find at Costco.The next pieces of advice are very important. When you cut up your roast or short ribs, dry them with paper towel. They will cook far more successfully if you do. Second, as tedious as it sounds, you must brown the
beef in hot oil in batches where none of the pieces touch each other.If they do touch, you are in danger of not
browning the meat but steaming it.To get the maximum beef flavor you want to
achieve something called the Maillard reaction.This is a complicated chemical reaction that happens when you brown food
properly.I’ll spare you the details but
almost all the flavor of the beef comes from proper browning.Once the meat is browned, the dish is almost
unbelievably easy.You just put everything
into the pot and put it in the oven. When it’s almost time to serve, the onions
and mushrooms are sautéed in a little butter.If you have a warming oven, you can do this in advance.Then it’s ready to serve.And my, is it good! Here’s the recipe:

Recipe
for Burgundy Beef Stew adapted from James Oseland’s “Saveur. The New Comfort
Food”

8
ounces thick slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch slices

and
cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces

2
tablespoons canola oil

2
1/2 lbs trimmed boneless beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes

kosher
salt

fresh
ground black pepper

1
large carrot, roughly chopped

1
large yellow onion, roughly chopped

1
celery rib, roughly chopped

2
tablespoons tomato paste

3
garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1/4
cup flour

2
cups beef stock or 2 cups veal stock

1
(750 ml) bottle full-bodied red wine, such as merlot

1
bouquet garni (1 sprig each parsley and thyme and 1 bay leaf,

tied
together with kitchen twine)

2
tablespoons unsalted butter

10
ounces button mushrooms, stemmed and quartered

32
white pearl onions,* peeled

1/4
cup flat leaf parsley, for garnish

*Use defrosted Frozen Pearl Onions and you won't have to peel a thing.

Preheat
oven to 325°.

Cook
bacon in an 8-quart Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until
browned and crisp, about 20 minutes.

Using
a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate; pour off all
but 2 tbs of the rendered fat.

Increase
heat to med-high and add the oil to the Dutch oven.

Working
in batches, add the beef, season with salt and pepper, and cook, turning
occasionally, until the beef is browned on all sides, 5-6 minutes.

Transfer
the beef to a plate and set aside.

Add
the carrots, onions, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions
are soft and browned, about 7 minutes.

Stir
in the tomato paste and garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Return
the beef to the pot along with any juices, sprinkle with flour, and stir until
the ingredients are well coated with flour.

Add
the stock, wine, and bouquet garni.

Cover
and transfer to the oven, and cook until the beef is tender,

2
1/2-3 hours.

Meanwhile,
melt 1 tbs butter in a 12-inch skillet over med-high heat.

Add
the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are soft and
golden brown, 10-12 minutes.

Transfer
the mushrooms to a bowl and set aside.

Add
1 tbs butter to the skillet along with the pearl onions and 2 tbs water.

Cover
partially and cook until the water evaporates and the onions are tender, about
4 minutes. Uncover
and continue cooking onions, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, 2-3
minutes. Transfer
onions to the bowl with the mushrooms and cover to keep warm. Remove
the beef from the oven. Taste for seasoning adding more salt and pepper if needed.

To
serve, divide the stew between 8 serving bowls and pour some sauce over each
serving. Divide
the bacon, mushrooms, and pearl onions evenly between the bowls, and garnish
with the parsley leaves.